FINISHED BASEMENT

In June we finally got the rest of the basement finished. It is so nice to be able to just send the kids down there to play. Lucas just goes down there any time he wants and I don't have to worry about him falling on the cement or getting into stuff that should not be gotten into. It wasn't finished for very long before the boys got it broken in. In fact most of the time the bathroom stays locked just so they don't play in the water and get it all over the floor including on the carpet. Someday we may even get a shower curtain hung and rugs put down so we can use more than just the toilet. We have actually gotten a mirror since I took this picture so one thing at a time I guess.
This is the only reason I am excited for winter. I can't wait to use the fireplace. Since we finished it in June we haven't really used the fireplace yet. I hope it works.

And someday we may get furniture. But it is also nice to just have it open for the kids to run around in. They love it and I love it. And I have to say, Dave did a pretty good job. He did all of the work except for the dry wall. It looks fabulous. Come by and see it any time!

And because the toy closet got finished we didn't need the bedroom as a toy room and because we have another baby that needs Rachel's room upstairs we redid the 2nd bedroom downstairs for Rachel. It used to be all blue but I of course wanted to make it girly. So I found the bedding and then let Rachel pick a color from it for the walls. Since her favorite color is purple that is what she picked. I added the trim on the wall and re-painted my old bed from growing up so that it would match the blanket. I love how it all turned out! And Rachel loves her new room and bed. She likes her blanket but doesn't actually use it. She still won't use any blanket except the one that her Grandma gave her when she was born.

I AM SO READY!!

Tomorrow I will be 35 weeks and I was ready to have this baby yesterday! I had a doctors appt yesterday and even though I still have 5 weeks until my due date I was really hoping that he would tell me I was way dialated and ready to have it right now. Much to my dismay, I did not have it. Oh well. Just more time for the baby to grow, right? I am dialated to a 1 though so there is something going on. He told me to just to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. I took that as no housework. Yea! Dave didn't hear the same thing.

But I am very ready to see my little girl. I can't wait to dress her up in all of her cute clothes. And I can't wait to give her lots of hugs and kisses. I am ready to be done being pregnant. I do love to feel her move but I am ready to have my body back. I realize that I don't get a very big belly when I am pregnant but I am still very uncomfortable. Zackery tells me I don't ever help with cleaning anymore. I told him to put a basketball up his shirt and then try to bend over. He just gave me a dirty look.

So I have another appt. in a week and a half. We will see what that brings. Until then, I will endure the sleepless and uncomfortable nights, using the bathroom all day long, tucking and retucking everything in all day long and especially everytime I bend over. And until then I will love my other little ones before they sadly get pushed aside.

BEDTIME WITH THE BOYS

Things I learned from the boys the other night while putting them to bed:

*Padme, from Star Wars is 100 times hotter than me -Preston

*In order for a girl to be hot she has to have long hair -Zackery

*Her hottness also depends on her face -Jackson

*She has to wear alot of make up -Zackery

I then told Zack that I wear alot of make up but he told me it didn't count because "when was the last time I put blue above my eyes?"

*If she wears too many bows or pony tails then she is not hot -Zackery

He told me later that if a girls hair isn't down then he can't play with it like he was doing to mine.

I also learned that Jack and Zack both have girlfriends. But Zack probably wont marry his girlfriend because he hasn't seen her since he got done with kindergarten. He said he will have to find someone else.


Really?! These boys are 9, 6, and 5. I never know what I am going to get from these boys. After all of this talk about girls being hot (which I have no idea where they got all of this from) they started asking me about Dave and I.
They started asking questions like:

*When did we meet?

*When did I know I liked him?

*How did we get to know each other?

*How did we know we were in love?

*Is that a real diamond on your ring"

*When did Dad give you that ring"

*How long have you had it?

*Why do you where it all of the time?

I'm sure I am forgetting some of what they told me, but I must say I was thouroughly entertained.

30 WEEKS

30 Weeks and all is well.

I went to the doctor last week and everything is looking great. It looks like I will have my C-Section on Oct. 11. Unless something happens before then. We were kind of hoping for the 10th so that her birthday could be 10-10-10. But the doctor didn't really want to schedule a delivery on Sunday. Maybe I can just go into labor on my own on the 10th. And for something random, it turns out that Dave and I are the same circumfrance around the middle. But I wont tell you what that is. I wouldn't want to embarrass anyone.

PICTURES

A few weeks ago we went to Layton Park to take pictures of the kids. These are some of my favorites.This is my very favorite picture of Lucas.

Of course we had to feed the ducks while we were there.

Rachel loves to pose for pictures.

I can always count on Rach for a funny face!

I just love these cute little ones. Too bad Jack and Zack were being stinkers and wouldn't put on some decent clothes. But still cute!

Zack found this feather and would not take it out of his mouth for anything. I thought it was pretty gross but he didn't care.

All of my kids love to climb trees and Layton Park has the perfect climbing trees.

My handsome Jack!

Lucas was done at this point so Dave was trying to get him to smile. It worked on the rest of them but not so much on Lucas.

So my sister just showed me how to play around with my pictures on Picasa and this is what I came up with. I just took this picture with my little camera at Layton Park. I can tell that I could have lots of fun with this and spend way too much time with it.

JACKSON'S BIRTHDAY

My little boy is growing up. Jackson turned 9 on July 9th. He was in is favorite place for his birthday-Lake Powell! Unfortunatly I was not there with him. That did not hinder the celebrations though. Grandma Bytheway made sure he had a party. She made cupcakes, decorated the awning with balloons, and even had a Transformer pinata. Jackson had a blast at Lake Powell!

The day after they got home from Lake Powell we did presents. He was so excited to get his art kit and art paper. He has used it lots and he even shares it with his brothers and sister. Jackson is a good boy and we love having him in our family. Unfortunatly being the oldest, he gets asked to do alot and I am super grateful that he is willing to help out so much. He will start 4th grade in a couple of weeks and he is very excited. Happy Birthday Jackson! We love you!

THERE'S A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING!

1st first of the week-After nine years of raising kids, Lucas decided to be the first one to pull off his poopy diaper in his crib. Luckily he did not smear it all over the walls and crib but just kept it on the sheet and blanket. And himself of course. He didn't mind at all cause that meant he got a bath in the middle of the day! Lesson to learn-don't put a baby down for a nap without shorts on!

2nd first of the week-About a month ago we finished the basement and we absolutely love it. Unfortunatly after a month the boys decided to really break it in. They decided to turn a plastic shelf upside on the carpet and use Rachel's play dishes to fill it up with water from the bathroom. I'm pretty sure the majority of the water ended up on the carpet and not in their little shelf. They soaked about seven towels while cleaning it up and it is still damp. Three days later. This isn't the first time they have made a mess with water since we finished the bathroom but usually it stays in the bathroom. After this I locked up the bathroom. So glad we spent the money to finish the bathroom!

3rd first of the week- After I put the boys to bed that same night (Monday I think) and went upstairs when I thought they were asleep. Dave and I watched an episode of WipeOut on Hulu. When that was over we heard some noise coming from the basement so Dave went to check it out. It was not good news. When Dave got home from work earlier he had put the space heater and the work lamp on the wet carpet to help dry it out. Well the boys thought they would use the lamp to melt some crayons which they found downstairs. After the crayons melted where else should it go except to drip down onto the carpet. So now we have a nice big red circle on the carpet that we have only had for a month. 3 naughty boys = 2 angry parents. As punishment, yesterday and today and every day until they are done, they get to pull weeds from the flower beds all around the house. If you have seen our flower beds, we don't actually have any flowers planted, it is all just overgrown with weeds. There is alot! Along with this they each had to do some writing. They each had something different to write and they each wrote for over an hour. Oh how I love these boys!!

I decided I wanted to compile a list of all of the creative things these boys (and Rachel but mostly the boys) have done that have gotten them in trouble. I'm sure I cannot remember everything so if you can think of anything I may have told you, leave me a comment. In a few days I will put the list in a post for all of your amusement!